The Rise of Job-Hopping: Is It Recommended?

During my 6-months tenure in Shackleton Towers, there is a common pattern that ties all of the applying candidates together: job-hopping. So, what is job-hopping, really? The definition itself is pretty self-explanatory; it is the habit of moving from one company to another company in less than two years in each job position. Although this kind of habit is rarely perceived positively as loyalty and longevity are values managers looking for. Regardless, 59% of job applicants who are coming still find job-hopping to be favorable. The next question is, who are these job-hoppers? In opposite to the common belief about millennials, based on the survey done by PayScale, 13% of job-hoppers are millennials (born 1982-2002), and 41% are baby boomers (born 1946-1964). These baby boomers, in fact, had at least 12 jobs before they were in their forties. They are as guilty as the millennials.

In my findings, the common answers that usually received whenever I asked their motive in seeking new opportunity are:

“I would like to grow as an individual”

“I find that my daily tasks are too monotonous, I do not believe that my career is going anywhere in this company”

“I do not feel quite fit with the company’s culture; it does not match my personality”

We could agree that a culture mismatch can drive an employee out the door faster than a smaller paycheck can. Poor work-life balance can also contribute to the job-hopping. Any of these reasons can cause an employee to accept a lower salary in order to change. Once job-hoppers are dissatisfied with the workplace, they are looking for a new company in order to escape from the “negative” situations they are experiencing in their current companies. The worse thing is that they continue this vicious cycle without asking themselves important career questions such as, “What do I care about?” or “What are problems in society do I want to solve?”

Therefore, before we tackle the vicious cycle that has been occurring amongst the job-hoppers, I would like to provide a fair judgment on job-hopping, in terms of the gained benefits and costs, before offering my solutions.

With these arguments in mind, my final advice for all job-hoppers out there is not to perceive your moving habit as the solution for your frustration. Yes, workloads can be exasperating from time to time, until you reach the point where you are blocked in finding ideas on how to balance your personal and working life. Yes, not everybody could as pleasing as you like them to be. However, no one can guarantee you that you would have a lesser workload and/or not meeting the same kind of toxic people you are currently facing in your office. Moreover, seeing other companies be your potential chance for happiness would be a hard sell, which is not a great quality that you want to demonstrate to the hiring managers. Take job-hopping as a drug, too much consumption would not be as beneficial as when you consume it proportionally.

Hence, before you finalize your decision to move out to a new company. Answer these five questions for yourself:

What do I want from my career?

Have I made the most of my current role?

Why do I need a new opportunity?

Where has the greatest long-term potential?

What is my industry’s norm? Can I cope with it?

Lastly, my advice for employers is to invest your time on employee retainment. Besides making your workplace to be a happy place for your employees by showing your employees you appreciate them and set up rewards systems that incentivize great ideas and innovation, for example. Another strategy that can be used is training and development because besides providing opportunities for these employees to hone their skills, you are also giving them a chance for them to see their future in your company. Moreover, training can help to improve the employers and employees’ relationship as they find a way to communicate with each other. If companies manage to retain their employees, I do not think that it is necessary to dedicate your time and money to look for perfect talents, as the future itself is already in your hand.

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Shackleton Towers provides executive recruiting and training services to a wide range of industries. We have developed the knowledge and skills to deliver the perfect fit between a job seeker and an employer